CENTER VALLEY — In an age of specialization, Whitehall's Zachary Gilbert stands out as a rare three-sport high school athlete.

The 6-foot-4 junior is a quarterback for his father's Zephyrs football team, a promising pitcher in baseball and a starter on the basketball team.

On Wednesday night, Gilbert played the latter sport and delivered in the clutch, the way well-rounded athletes often do.

After missing his first six shots in a District 11 Class 4A first-round game at Southern Lehigh, Gilbert finally made one, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

He spotted up in the right corner, took a pass from Mikey Esquilin and drained a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to give Whitehall a 44-41 lead.

The 10th-seeded Zephs held on from there, making just enough foul shots in the final minute to post a hard-fought 49-44 win over the host Spartans and advance to Saturday night's district quarterfinals.

Whitehall visited Southern Lehigh on Wednesday in the first round of the District 11 4a boys' basketball tournament.

(Chris Shipley/The Morning Call)

Whitehall (13-10) will face No. 2 seed and Colonial League champ Bangor (23-1) in a 7:30 p.m. game at Pleasant Valley after Pocono Mountain West plays Stroudsburg in the 6 p.m. opener.

Zephyrs-Slaters is a rematch of a quarterfinal last year at Pleasant Valley, which the Zephyrs won 50-41.

"We're looking forward to that one," Whitehall's Logan McGinley said after scoring a team-high 14 points. "Our team is going to come ready to play way better than we did today."

That might be a good idea for the Zephs, a senior-less team that has had a difficult time finding consistency. In an uneven season, they are often up and down in the same game.

Faces in the Crowd at Whitehall vs Southern Lehigh on Wednesday in the first round of the District 11 4a boys' basketball tournament.

(Chris Shipley/The Morning Call)

Whitehall hadn't played since beating Emmaus in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference regular-season finale on Feb. 3 but showed no signs of rust early.

The Zephs bolted to a 13-2 lead and when McGinley closed the first quarter with a 3-pointer, Whitehall was up 16-4.

Just when it looked like Southern Lehigh, looking for its first district win since winning the 3A crown in 2009, was going to get blown out, the Spartans stormed back.

They closed the first half with a 15-2 run and took a 24-22 lead at halftime.

"The first quarter we just weren't ready," Spartans coach Ben Tannous said. "We were scared of the situation and it showed. It looked like it could be a 20-point game real quick, but I was glad we bounced back."

Southern Lehigh's comeback set up an intense, highly contested second half that offered no breathing room until very late.

The game was tied at 24, 26, 28, 34, 37, 39 and 41 after Spartans senior Jacob Cassel spun inside for a layup to counter Jackson Buskirk's follow at the other end.

But Whitehall quickly got the ball up the floor and Esquilin, a sophomore, found Gilbert in the corner.

"I saw Mikey driving, so I just went out to the corner," Gilbert said. "He does a good job of looking for his teammates and he kicked it out and I just made it. I had to shoot it with confidence."

Whitehall went up 44-41 and didn't trail again.

Southern Lehigh, which stayed in it thanks to six 3-pointers, including three by Derek Barnes, suddenly seemed to lose its confidence at the offensive end. After scoring 20 points in the second quarter, the Spartans tallied 20, total, in the second half.

It was the kind of game when every possession felt monumental.

"Southern Lehigh made it closer than we thought it was going to be, so any shot was big for us to get our confidence up," Gilbert said.

As for what sport he prefers most, Gilbert said: "Whatever season it is, that's what I like. Right now, I'm really into basketball. When basketball's over, I'll move on to baseball. But basketball's my favorite sport right now."

Gilbert and all the Zephyrs would like to keep playing into March, which means they would make the PIAA tournament.

With a young team, Whitehall coach Jeff Jones said ups and downs are to be expected.

"This is a two-year deal with all of the juniors we have, but we're not looking past this year," he said. "It would be great for this group to get into the state playoffs and gain more experience."

Meanwhile, the season ended for Southern Lehigh with a nice-looking 18-7 record, but Tannous said that mark is a bit "inflated" because the Colonial League wasn't as deep this year as it has been in the past.

"It's tough to continue to say 'good game' even though we lost because it's not a good feeling," Tannous said. "In big games, we couldn't make the big play and get over the hump. I thought our league playoff loss to Salisbury was the low point of the season. Tonight, I was pleased that we at least fought back."